Chapter 36: The Sea King’s Lair - Skull Island
Life on the sea was usually quite boring, especially in the calm belt. There were no common storms or tornadoes that made pirates tremble, and it was always calm and sunny. If it weren't for the terrifying Sea Kings, this place would be like a paradise for those who enjoyed sightseeing on the sea.
Since they were aboard a navy warship embedded with Sea-Prism Stones, Kado and his crew didn't worry about attracting the troublesome Sea Kings. So, with nothing to do, they often passed the time playing cards.
"Haha, kid, don't get too excited, look at my bomb!"
"You're full of crap, there are only four twos, and I have one, where are you going to get a bomb?"
"Are you blind? Isn't this four twos?"
"Dammit, where's my two gone?!"
"Hehe, idiot, you're such a fool."
"Look at my sure win card!"
"Get lost, where's the five? I don't see a five anywhere!"
Next to Kado was a small pile of cigars, which he had won as prizes. Both he and Sanchi enjoyed smoking, and whenever they played cards, they used cigars as stakes—losing once meant giving up one cigar, and the landlord had to give up two.
"Fite, since you don't smoke, can you lend me a few?" Sanchi, his face red, didn't care whether Fite agreed or not. He directly grabbed a cigar from him, determined to continue playing against Kado.
Fite looked up at the sky, his brow furrowing. "Looks like the wind is picking up."
Wind in the calm belt? Kado almost laughed, but the words caught in his throat as he suddenly saw a mountain rising from the sea.
A Sea King, stretching its body under the lazy sun, sent the broken warship flying, disappearing into the horizon.
The Sea King scratched its rear end and lay back down in the sea to resume its nap. In the distance, Kado's angry shout could be heard: "I will never come back to the calm belt again!"
When he woke up again, Kado found himself lying on a damp pebble beach, his head feeling like mush, with the sun overhead as though it was going to roast him alive.
"Jiuwi, check my physical condition." Kado muttered as he struggled with the fuzzy thoughts, wondering if he was about to die after being launched by the Sea King's rear end, the warship spinning in mid-air, just like being washed around in a washing machine hundreds of times. His whole body felt like mush.
"Beep… Physical condition: weak, 7,214 points of energy, 138 points of special energy remaining…"
The familiar voice reassured him that he was simply weak and not critically injured. Kado sighed in relief. If he had been reduced to a state of weakness like the last time after being slashed by Mihawk, he might not have survived.
After resting for a bit, Kado checked his belongings. Besides two soaked jokers, there was nothing that could replenish his energy.
"Wonder how Sanchi and Fite are doing?" he thought, a bit concerned. His physical strength was the best among the three, and if he had fallen into this state, he hoped those two hadn't encountered any problems.
Using his strong recovery ability, Kado managed to sit up and looked around. The island appeared to be endless, and surprisingly, there were no trees, just heaps of gray-white rocks. Even the pebbles beneath him had been smoothed by the sea.
He gazed out toward the calm sea, which reflected the sun like a giant mirror. After thinking for a moment, Kado deduced that he was still likely in the calm belt. The Sea King's attack was powerful, but it shouldn't have sent him out of the calm belt.
Struggling to stand, Kado began to search the island. Other than a few broken planks, there was nothing resembling the remains of the warship.
"Damn it, so this is an uninhabited island?"
After a long search, Kado concluded that the island seemed completely devoid of human presence, except for the distant rocky mountain that he hadn't explored yet. There was no sign of any human activity, although it was possible the island was just too large for him to have explored it all.
The sun grew hotter, and Kado felt both hungry and thirsty, but he had no choice but to sigh and head toward the rocky mountain, hoping to find at least some fresh water to survive.
"Yuck, stone tools, rags, traces of human life!"
At the entrance of a stone cave, Kado stopped in his tracks, surprised and excited to see discarded trash on the ground. These items clearly seemed man-made. Could it be that the island wasn't uninhabited, and there were humans here after all?
Licking his cracked lips, Kado rushed into the cave, ignoring any potential danger. The feeling of hunger and thirst was unbearable.
The cave entrance was only about two meters wide, but as Kado ventured deeper, the space inside grew larger. Now it was about the size of a normal hall, and the distant space seemed even bigger, with a faint red glow emanating from it.
Excited, Kado quickened his pace. There was fire inside the cave, meaning he was getting close to human habitation.
Reaching the end of the cave, Kado entered a massive space. Even his enhanced vision couldn't make out the edges. The ceiling was covered in large, glowing red rocks, which were the source of the firelight Kado had seen earlier.
"My God, is this a paradise?"
Kado stood in awe, his jaw nearly hitting the floor. This space was so huge it seemed like someone had hollowed out the Himalayas.
The stone walls were covered in dark stone caves, and some caves were bustling with people moving in and out, resembling a marketplace.
"This world really is full of surprises. Who would have thought there would be such a hidden place in the calm belt?" Kado marveled, running toward the nearest cave, eager to learn more.
Inside one of the caves, an old man sat smoking a pipe, dressed in unknown leather clothes.
"Old man, where is this place?"
The old man glanced at Kado and, seeing his silk clothes, understood. He knocked his pipe against a rock and smiled. "Ah, a newcomer who's just gotten into trouble. No wonder you don't know. This is the Moving Kingdom, Skull Rock Island, known as the Sea King's Lair."
"Skull Rock Island!" Kado was stunned. "The legendary island that disappeared from the Grand Line 20 years ago, the island that could move on its own, Skull Rock Island?"
"Yes, that's right. This is Skull Rock Island, but it's not exactly as the rumors say. The island itself doesn't move. Instead, it's the corpse of a giant sea turtle that carries the island and drifts across the sea," the old man explained, pointing to the huge space around them. "We are inside the corpse, drifting across the ocean."
At that moment, Kado realized that this space resembled the empty shell of a giant sea turtle. The glowing red rocks and the caves still puzzled him.
End of chapter
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